Role of livestock in food security and food self sufficiency in the highland production system
2001
Hadera Gebru(Ministry of Agriculture, Addis Abeba (Ethiopia). Animal and Fisheries Resources Development and Regulatory Department)
The objective of this paper was to examine the role of livestock in food security and food self-sufficiency in the highland production system. The highlands are areas above 1500 m.a.s.loccupy 44 percent of the total land area of the country: and are populated by 90 of the human population. Almost all crops are produced and about 70of the livestock population is found in the highlands. Until recently, food security has been ill perceived and has been mainly associated with boosting crop production, and among others the role of livestock in food security and food self-sufficiency was not rightly understood. However, perceptions are getting refined and rectified since recently. According to the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and World Food Submit Plan of Action. "Food Security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economical access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preference for active and healthy life". Within this perception and Highland Production System context, the role of livestock in food security is significant. In the highland production system, livestock are an integral part of agriculture: are major source of draft power and nutrient cycling to maintain the variability and environmental sustainability of crop productionare living bank, source of cash and empower their owners with purchasing powerthey are important producers of food and an avenue of agricultural intensification, contributing to the overall sustainability of agriculture. As such livestock play important role in the efforts to ensure, among others, the physical and economic access to sufficient and nutritious food, and hence food security and food self-sufficiency in the highland production system.
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